Hathras stampede a conspiracy

New Delhi: The stampede incident at the satsang of self-styled godman Suraj Pal alias Narayan Sakar Hari alias Bhole Baba was not an accident but a conspiracy, claimed AP Singh, the lawyer of the embattled godman. Addressing the media on Sunday, AP Singh claimed that at least 15-16 people, with their faces covered, were present during the July 2 satsang where the stampede broke out, resulting in the death of 121 people. According to Singh, these people sprayed a toxic gas in the crowd and then fled in a car.

"There was a conspiracy to frame Bhole Baba (another name of Narayan Sakar Hari)," said AP Singh, showing receipts of the clearance taken from the police, fire, and traffic departments.

AP Singh urged the police to seize the CCTV footage of the incident which would be pivotal in nabbing the culprits. "This is not an accident. It's a murder," claimed AP Singh.

So far, the Uttar Pradesh Police has arrested nine people, including two women and three senior citizens. Among these, several sevadars (volunteers) of the satsang are mentioned as accused, including Dev Prakash Madhukar, the main organiser of the Hathras satsang.

According to the police, Madhukar worked as a fundraiser for events of Narayan Sakar Hari and collected donations.

However, AP Singh, who also represents Madhukar, claimed that he himself surrendered to the police in Delhi, where he had come for medical treatment.

Bhole Baba, who is not named as an accused in the FIR, has been untraceable since the July 2 incident.